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The Allusions - Anthology: 1966-1968 Review by Bruce Eder allmusic.com
Fans of the early- and mid-'60s Merseybeat sound (the Beatles, Gerry & the Pacemakers, the Searchers, etc.) will
probably love this 21-song compilation, which assembles the Allusions' complete recorded output over a four-year period.
At their best, as on "Gypsy Woman," they had a fresh, original sound somewhere midway between the romanticism
of the Beatles, the dynamism of the Kinks, and the Who's early ballads, with a unique vocal sound and good attack on
their instruments. "Fever (Burns My Brain)" is a strange, yet workable, mix of two seemingly conflicting
themes, a harsh, smooth farewell main lyric bridged by an achingly beautiful chorus reminiscent of Gerry & the
Pacemakers vocally and the Zombies instrumentally. "The Dancer" is one of those odd low visibility numbers,
like "I'll Remember the Night" by the Roulettes (whom these guys also resemble) that are such smooth and
catchy examples of the Merseybeat sound that they belong on any anthology of the era and the music. "Roller Coaster
Man" sounds like a Searchers outtake or a Gerry & the Pacemakers reject, with a guitar part that resembles
"You Can't Do That." "Looks Like Trouble" owes a bit to "I Feel Fine" in its intro,
although it also includes a thoroughly American garage-band style guitar break. Some of the later numbers, such as
"Roundabout," are less interesting as songs, although even this wimpy ballad offers a catchy chorus and,
overall, resembles nothing less than a decent Micky Dolenz-sung Monkees song. And "I'll Be Home" is the kind
of song with which Ringo Starr could have done wonders, especially with the Beatlesque harmonies at the end of each
line. The album's later songs are an interesting mix of subdued, moody ballads and high-energy rockers, such as "I
Gotta Move," which may be the most Kinks-like cover of a Kinks track that you will ever hear. This disc's sound
quality is excellent and the annotation extremely thorough.

The Allusions Biography by Bruce Eder allmusic.com
The Allusions were an Australian band that never made any impression outside of their homeland but left behind some
great Merseybeat-style records. The quintet was formed out of the memberships of two previously existing groups, the
Leemen and the Delawares. Guitarist Terry Hearne, already a five-year veteran of the music business at age 20, and an
ex-member of the surf instrumental groups the Dave Bridge Quartet and Dave Bridge Trio, joined the Leemen in 1964 and
began to move away from leader Lonnie Lee's Bakersfield sound country repertory. With rhythm guitarist Michael Morris,
who had previously played in an outfit called Dennis Williams & the Delawares, he split off from the Leemen.
Hearne's ex-Dave Bridge bandmate Terry Chapman came in on bass, and Kevin Hughes of the Delawares took the drummer spot,
with John Shaw, who also doubled in a very limited way on organ, taking the lead vocals on the ballads. The new group's
influences and models came from the Beatles but also the early Zombies and the Fortunes, Gerry & the Pacemakers, and
other lighter, pop-oriented rock & roll outfits being heard at the time in England.

When they made their debut at the end of 1965, they were a pure cover band, performing nothing but established British
acts' songs. They moved into creating original material when they realized that it was the only way that they would ever
get to record. Morris became their in-house mainstay in that regard, not because he was particularly good at it but
because, in Hearne's view, he was better than the other four. "We couldn't write a shopping list," he remarked
to David McLean in a 1994 article. They developed a modified Merseybeat sound, almost reminiscent of Gerry & the
Pacemakers but with the harmonic subtleties of the Beatles and the Searchers, and got a contract late in 1965 with EMI's
Parlophone Records imprint, by way of their production deal with Leopold Productions, for whom their producer, Robert
Iredale, worked.

From the beginning, they sounded more Merseybeat than the actual surviving Merseybeat bands of 1966 did, in some ways
paralleling the early Australian work of the Easybeats -- both had what was, essentially, a delightful throwback sound
to the slightly more innocent years of 1964-1965. Their debut release of "Gypsy Woman" was a nationally
charting Australian single that reached the island nation's Top Ten in a nine-week chart run. They sounded so English
that it was a surprise when they discovered that the Allusions were from Australia. By that time, Chapman, a co-founder,
had quit and was replaced by Bruce Davis, former lead guitarist of the Delawares. Their second single, "The
Dancer," did even better than its predecessor, peaking at number eight on the charts. The sky seemed the limit at
that point -- with the exception of the Easybeats, no Australian band was doing anything like the Allusions' business,
and they found themselves something of cultural heroes to anyone under the age of 21; they even rated a spot on the
support bill to the Easybeats' final Australian concert before the latter group set out for London. It was at that point
that their initial success fizzled out along with their third single, "Looks Like Trouble." The latter was a
bit derivative of "I Feel Fine" in its opening and perhaps less than inspired in its beat and lyric, except
for a catchy chorus with an interesting modulation, and a cool garage punk guitar break. The single's failure, coupled
with behind-the-scenes political maneuvers that kept them out of the best venues in Sydney, also cost them some
momentum.

Their fourth single, "Roundabout," made the Top 30 in early 1967, rescuing the group from immediate decline --
that single has been compared to Paul McCartney's better ballad work, though it's closer to a really, really good
Monkees song (and one worthy of Micky Dolenz's vocal talents). Davis's "I'll Be Home" is actually more
interesting, with some offbeat modulations and a curious mix of downbeat mood and catchy tune, all of it recalling Ringo
Starr's vocal performance on "Act Naturally," which fit doubly since Hughes, the drummer, sang it. At this
point, the group also cut a self-titled album of covers, ranging from pleasant but unexceptional renditions of American
soul ("Shop Around") to a killer version of the Kinks' "I Gotta Move."

Time was working against the group by then, however. Morris' songwriting output was never fully adequate to keep them
competitive in the singles marketplace, and their inability to break through to the best clubs in Sydney, or to get the
best bookings elsewhere in Australia, coupled with the bare trickle of money that they ever saw from their records (the
revenues from which went first to the production company), all wore on the members. Attempts to crack Melbourne and
Brisbane never paid off, and then the sales of their records fell off and the group gave up along with the record label.
By the end of 1968, the Allusions were history, albeit a history very much worth seeking out and discovering, based on
the quality of most of their records.